In Between the Lines
by Nathan Hale
Summary: What happens between 1 and 2?


"Sergeant Hale, first class," Nathan Hale said to the group of people in front of him.

"Lieutenant Leavitt,"

"Private Warner, first class," the black man said across from him.

"Private Shepherd," A small man in a corner said.

"Just call me Hawthorne," another man said. "Major Blake, where'd you find him?"

"We found him in England shortly after he destroyed a major tower. We think that he neutralized the entire chimeran threat in England, but we are doing a sweep now to be sure."

Hale tugged at his handcuffs. Blake heard it and turned towards him.

"We have to consider you a threat until you have been cleared by a physician. Protocol."

Hale scrunched his nose briefly, then subsided to his normal, indifferent demeanor.

"He should be here soon, I would think. He's probably dealing with another patient at the moment," Blake told him.

A few moments later, a doctor in a black button-down shirt burst in through a two-way door.

"Where is the new sentinel?" he asked. Hale noticed that his accent was Russian.

"Right here, Dr. Malikov," Blake said. Malikov waved him over.

"Follow me, sergeant…?"

"Hale. How do you know that I am a sergeant?"

"You have the insignia on your collar. Now, shall I call you sergeant Hale, or do you have a first name?"

"…Nathan."

"Very well, Nathan. This way."

They walked in silence for a few minutes before Malikov spoke up.

"What do you know about the chimera?" he asked.

"Hmm, not much," Hale admitted. "I know that it is a virus, and that these towers that we thought they were building were actually already there."

"You know just about as much as we know," Malikov said, "except how the virus works and how to prevent it. How long have you been infected?" he asked.

"I was swarmed by crawlers on about July 11, late morning or early afternoon," Hale said.

Malikov stopped there and looked at him.

"That long?"

Hale nodded his head.

"Then you will need at least level six inhibitors, maybe even level seven."

They walked into a medical facility. Malikov gestured to a bed. Hale sat down and took off his shirt.

Malikov gently pushed him down into a laying position. Hale closed his eyes as he felt a needle enter his arm. His eyes were suddenly heavy, and unnatural slumber took him.

He awoke an unknown time later. The artificial light of the base provided no clue to the time.

Hale's head throbbed with untold pain. He didn't mind, however, because the pain that didn't go away made him feel human. Fuzzy voices jittered around him as the doctor and his nurse noticed that he had awakened.

Doctor Malikov was silent as Hale's vision and hearing sharpened.

"You will be pleased to know that the surgery is successful," he said. Hale tried to smile but ended up wincing instead.

* * *

The day following his surgery, Hale was ushered into the program with great speed. He was given his own radio, the "squawk back" system.

* * *

He debriefed his adventures in England to Major Blake.

"I was deployed on July 11. When we got there, we had no idea what we were fighting. No one guessed that the chimera would be our enemy. After fighting for a while, I was following a dried up creek bed when crawlers swarmed us," Hale was explaining.

"Did you know that was how people got infected?" Blake asked.

"No, not at the time. I was informed later by British troops. I did feel that something was wrong after that creek bed, though. I didn't feel… well, it's hard to describe. So I followed through with the mission. I eventually met a captain Rachel Parker."

"Captain Parker. I have seen her name on paper. Were there any other officers that you met there?" Blake asked.

"Yes, there was a Commander Cartright. The last time I saw him, he was wounded."

"Hmm. What made you decide to attack the tower, Sergeant?"

"I… don't know. I felt a type of calling from something. I guess that it was the angels. They wanted me to join them, but I resisted their influence. We destroyed the reactor."

Blake seemed intrigued by this. He said, "We haven't seen a chimeran reactor yet. Could you describe it to us?"

Hale closed his eyes for a moment, then opened them and said, "It was a circular chamber. It had what looked like translucent blast shields. Inside there were multiple rods, and they glowed an orange color. I don't know how it works, but one of the Englishmen said it was nuclear."

Blake wrote a few things down on a pad, and then set down his pen and said, "You're released, Hale. Hell of a ride."

As Hale was walking out of the door, Blake said one more thing.

"Don't get too comfortable. We already have a mission ready for you."

Hale turned around, saluted, the walked out the door.


End file.
